Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Questions

If they can show that the two names are confusingly similar, and they can show that you have no legitimate interest in the domain and have adopted and are using the domain in bad faith, they can have the domain transferred to them. That is a separate issue from whether or not trademark infringement exists. You have not provided enough information about your business and theirs and what the two names are, so that no specific evaluation can be made; however, what you are asking goes beyond what can be handled via this site so I suggest that you contact a trademark attorney who also handles domain name disputes.... Read More

The protection provided by a trademark generally includes infringement by any mark which is colorably similar to the senior user's mark. That means any mark which is so close, for whatever reason, that it would cause confusion in the minds of ordinary consumers as to the source or sponsorship of the junior user's services or goods.... Read More

You say that "Seattle Homes" is "already trademarked." What you mean is that someone else is using "Seattle Homes" as a trademark to offer certain goods or services. The standard for trademark infringement is "likelihood of confusion," meaning would a consumer of the services you and the other person are offering confuse the source of those services based on the similarity of the trademark. Almost without a doubt, you will not be able to use a trademark that is identical to someone else's trademark except that you made it singular or plural. However, that really isn't the question. Figuring out if a term like "Seattle Homes" can be used as a trademark is not as simple as seeing if someone else is using the same term you want to use. You have to figure out if the term can be used as a trademark. You have to see if the person already using the term is using it on the same goods/services you want to offer. You have to figure out if the trademark is "inherently distinctive" or has "acquired distinctiveness." You have to see if the person who used it before you has registered the trademark with the state or the US Patent & Trademark Office. Even then, there is nothing to stop the prior user from trying to stop you from using the same or a similar trademark. In the end, the term "Seattle Homes" when used to offer any kind of goods or services relating to homes or housing is very descriptive and is a weak trademark, so even if you use it, you will have trouble stopping people after you from using very similar trademarks. Picking a strong trademark is a better option.... Read More

As a general matter, these kinds of questions are best answered by looking at the reasonable expectations of the copyright owner. An author or other creative artist who uploads a video to YouTube expects it to be viewed for free. As a general matter, since you are privileged to have a copy of the video on your computer or iPod in order to view it for free, the author's expectations are not frustrated if you view the video "later" rather than immediately after downloading. Simiarly, the author has no economic interest in requiring that the video be viewed immediately rather than "later."... Read More

As a general matter, federal copyright law gives you the right to "time shift" your viewing of lawfully viewed television shows. There is a paucity of authority regarding the precise facts you posit. However, unless your use of the recorded material is for other than personal home viewing, you should be okay.... Read More

Generally speaking, you do not have to provide information to a DMCA complainant except pursuant to a lawful court order. However, even without a court order, you must respond appropriately to a DMCA takedown notice (i.e., by taking down the allegedly infringing material) in order to continue to receive the benefit of the safe harbor.... Read More

Rights in inventions and ideas typically belong to the creator/inventor. Whether your employer has a right to own it depends on whether you agreed to assign your rights to them. You may have signed something when you began working, or you may have agreed to abide by an Employee's Manual, which could include an obligation to assign. Even if you did not agree to transfer ownership, if you have allowed your employer to use your invention, the employer has gained a "shop right" and can continue to use it without paying you. Of course, if you don't have an obligation to assign your rights over and you refuse, your employer may be able to take its own action, particularly if you are in a "right to work" state. ... Read More

Anon: A provisional patent application will never publish so you should not fear including details about your invention for that reason.  Provisional patents should include as much detail as is necessary to allow one of ordinary skill in the art to practice your invention.  In other words, it must enable the invention.  If it does not, it is useless as the basis for the filing of an eventual non-provisional application.   Claims, however, are not necessary for provisional patents and therefore need not be included.  With many inventions, there is an intersection between what is disclosed to meet the requirements for patentability and what information might be kept as a trade secret.  You should seek appropriate legal counsel to discuss this issue in greater detail and how it relates to your "secret ingredients".  You should also consider copyright protection for software. A few extra tips from a pro - put a copyright notice into the code (that's the "C" in a circle with a date and a phrase such as "All rights reserved"). Also, insert a few misspelled words here and there.  This is a simple method of catching someone who has wrongfully copied your code.  This information should not be considered legal advice for your specific circumstances and are offered only as general information on the topic. Philip Braginsky, Sills Cummis and Gross, http://www.sillscummis.com/practice/practice_group.asp?id=28... Read More